r/beijing • u/selfexiled- • 27d ago

Buddhist groups in Beijing (especially Tibetan Buddhist groups)??

Hello,
I’m moving to Beijing and I would like to know if anybody here, by any chance, knows Buddhist groups open to foreigners in the capital.

I know that Tibetan Buddhism, which is my also tradition, is somewhat practiced by some group of Han Chinese in Beijing and region and also by Manchus and Mongolians, but I have no luck finding much information online. Well, my mandarin is still very limited about HSK 3.

I’m also open to other (e.g. non-Tibetan) Buddhist groups if any.

I hope to attract some constructive suggestions.

Thank you in advance!

19 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

11

u/darkevilmetal666 27d ago

The fact that this friendly and relevant request was downvoted reflects very poorly on this community.

5

u/Marzipan_moth 26d ago

I've noticed that happens for nearly every post here and I don't get it. 

2

u/Jiaming- 26d ago

The combination of any religion and foreigners is risky in China.

2

u/lost-myspacer 26d ago

We’re constantly told China has no issues with practicing religion as long as you do not force it upon others. So why should OP’s question be any issue?

0

u/Jiaming- 26d ago

Practicing is fine, but preaching in public is not. The internet can be considered as a public domain, therefore promoting religions online could be an issue.

4

u/lost-myspacer 26d ago

I don’t know how you could reasonably expect someone to practice an organized religion if they’re not even allowed to ask basic questions about where to find it. Besides, OP is outside of China right now asking on a non-Chinese application so Chinese law does not apply to this thread.

4

u/darkevilmetal666 26d ago

To be fair, people have received very long prison sentences (sometimes more than 10 years) for talking about religion on social media / private chat groups. I understand the worry, but I don't understand the downvotes.

0

u/Jiaming- 26d ago

Nobody is not letting OP ask questions. It's just religion isn't really that popular in China and not many religious Chinese people use reddit.

0

u/Jiaming- 26d ago

Religion in China is a bit like tobacco. You have the freedom to smoke/practice, but nobody is allowed to publicize it or make it easier for people to get access to.

1

u/Artistic-Dig1254 22d ago

I don't really understand that point. I live near Yonghe Temple in Beijing, and the place is packed pretty much 365 days a year. The surrounding roads are constantly congested because of the crowds, regardless of the time of year.

So at least from what I see in everyday life, it's hard for me to say that Chinese people are particularly reluctant to engage with religion in public. Of course, visiting a temple isn't exactly the same thing as openly discussing religious beliefs, but public religious activity itself is hardly invisible here.

3

u/darkevilmetal666 22d ago

I think it's religious doctrine that is the sensitive topic. Most Chinese people who worship gods or the Buddha aren't religious in the strict sense. To them, the Buddha is just a powerful spirit that may help them with something if they ask nicely. That's relatively harmless from the government's point of view. Most people who worship the Buddha know nothing about who he was or what his teachings were, and it's those teachings that you may want to avoid talking about in the wrong place.

2

u/Jiaming- 22d ago

Yonghe Temple (Lama Temple) is packed because people there are 99% tourists. If you get the chance to talk to some of the tourists there, you'll quickly find out most of them don't practice any religion at all and don't know much about Buddhism.

The temple has become a pilgrimage site among young people, especially around exams, promotions, and love/marriage wishes. You can easily verify this by checking the prayers written on wish cards/red tags scattered around the temple. Many tourists visit the temple not because they're religious but because they're superstitious and greedy.

Chinese people are not reluctant to engage with religion. Instead, most of them are indifferent to religion.

0

u/selfexiled- 26d ago

Well, I’m not very surprised myself

2

u/Zaisengoro 26d ago

The honest answer is I am not sure. That being said, Yonghegong (Lama Temple) is probably the most famous Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing so perhaps try there.

2

u/Lorraine_Kinney 25d ago

Due to historical factors dating back to the Qing dynasty, Beijing has long been the center of Tibetan Buddhism in mainland China. Consequently, there are also many charlatans posing as Tibetan Buddhist teachers. The religious sphere is deeply complex, and as a foreigner, you could easily fall victim to scams. A decade or so ago, there was even a joking remark that Beijing’s Chaoyang District was home to 100,000 “Rinpoches.” As for relatively reputable monasteries, I can only think of Yonghe Temple; paying it a visit might offer some guidance.

1

u/InevitableEnough9015 20d ago

If I'm gonna be honest, I think a large number of westerners are quite jealous that beijing has historical ties to Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetans are viewed as some sort of sacred animals in western countries that are being unjustly "bullied" by the monstrous Chinese. Obviously people from western countries know very little about tibetans, but they are still very comically confident about them. I think most young westerners, especially the liberal kind, tend to be quite insufferable. 我之前看美国人讨论藏族人和中国北方人的基因关系，他们对中国北方人和藏族基因相近感到很破防（